Close Quarters
by BunniesOfDoom
Summary: The cramped quarters of the safe house plus a flu bug makes for one unhappy Levi.


I feel like this had way more potential, but it didn't turn out quite like I wanted it too. Oh well. Originally posted to sneezehq, moved here for safekeeping. Warning for complete mangling of the series timeline. Also sorry for any other inaccuracies with regards to canon, I meant to reread the manga but my iPad wouldn't cooperate. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

After everything that Eren had put his body through with his attempts to learn how to crystallize, it really shouldn't have been surprising when he turned up for breakfast the next morning looking pale and shaky and overall pretty out of it.

"Back to bed with you," Levi says sharply, reacting before Eren can even sit down. When Eren just freezes, looking confused, Levi rolls his eyes. "We can't afford all of us getting sick, not when we're all living in such close quarters. Get your sorry ass back down to the basement before you manage to spread this plague to everyone else. Consider yourself in quarantine until you're better. I'll have someone bring down some food for you in a bit."

Too exhausted to argue or get angry, Eren just nods dully and turns around, trudging back over to the stairs that lead down to the small, dingy cellar of the safe house.

"Looks like Captain Germaphobe is out in full force!" Hanji teases idly, her mouth full of food.

Levi glares at her, and rolls his eyes for good measure. "We can't have him infecting the rest of you brats." Hanji was included under the category of brats, not that she'd noticed or cared.

Mikasa glowers at him, a look that would kill a lesser man, but before she can open her mouth Armin elbows her in the side. "He's right, you know. It wouldn't be good if all of us got sick. What if someone manages to find us out here?"

Although she's still frowning, Mikasa's expression softens slightly at Armin's explanation. "It's good to know that one of you has a little sense," Levi scowls into his own cup of tea. "And by quarantine, I mean that everyone stays up here and away from Eren as much as possible. Including you two." He gestures to Mikasa and Armin.

Gray and blue eyes meet Levi's own; one pair mutinous, the other deceptively innocent. Levi knows already that it's going to be a long week.

What day even is it, anyway?

Caring for Eren doesn't prove to be too much trouble. Although the kid is running a pretty spectacular fever, he doesn't seem to be uncomfortable, mostly just lethargic and exhausted. They bring food down to the small basement room and periodically check on Eren throughout the day. It'd be pretty shitty if Humanity's Last Hope died because of something as mundane as a fever.

Levi makes everyone in the safe house wash their hands constantly, and anyone that goes down to the cellar has to tie a cloth over their face to avoid catching Eren's illness. He scrubs down every surface as best as he can, scouring away any dirt he can find. Surely, if they're careful enough, they can nip this in the bud. There's no reason that anyone else has to get sick so long as they take proper precautions.

He wishes that he was shocked when less than two days after Eren falls ill, Armin starts coughing and spikes a fever. Growling, he orders him to join his friend in the basement quarantine. This was not what he signed up for when he "joined" the scouting legion.

If he makes it out of all of this alive, he's never having children.

The third day finds Mikasa unusually clumsy and quieter than usual. Of course those brats couldn't be bothered to listen to him. Why does he even try?

The basement isn't large enough to quarantine three people, so instead Levi moves the disobedient trio to one of the bedrooms and hangs a blanket over the doorway in an attempt to prevent the germs from spreading.

"At least moving them upstairs makes it easier to keep an eye on them," Krista-no, Historia-points out, ever the optimist. Levi just sighs, his ever-present scowl deepening.

Out of the three sick cadets, Armin seems to be the worst off; not surprising, given his small stature and weaker immune system. He has the highest fever, and he's completely delirious, muttering to himself and tossing and turning restlessly. His sleep is plagued by fever dreams, and he cries for his parents, his grandpa, his friends. Mikasa, who seems much more lucid, does her best to comfort him. Aside from the hoarseness of her voice and the obvious flush of fever in her face, she could otherwise pass for healthy.

Eren just seems tired. He sleeps the majority of the time-Mikasa can barely rouse him to eat or drink, no matter how much she pleads with him and reminds him that he needs to keep his strength up. The fever is still stubbornly sticking around, making Eren's already unusually high body temperature climb even higher. Mikasa and Armin seem to appreciate Eren's excess body heat. On opposite sides of him, they both curl in close, basking in the warmth.

Day five brings further bad news: both Historia and Sasha have fallen ill. It's not terribly surprising, since they both were the most involved and helpful with taking care of the others, but the continued deterioration of the situation makes Levi's already black mood even worse.

Both girls are put into the quarantine room; Sasha and Mikasa help arrange beds on the floor for the newcomers. Sasha seems to be doing okay, not too uncomfortable, but within hours of getting sick Historia's fever climbs rapidly. She seems pretty delirious, calling out Ymir's name in her sleep and crying. There are other names that she says as well, but none of them really recognize the people she calls out to. Sasha sits by her side, trying her best to calm her when she thrashes.

The other cadets are still pretty sick. Although his fever has come down a little bit, Armin is still very out of it, lost in dreams and rarely waking. Eren's fever hasn't budged, and if not for the rise and fall of his chest he would seem to be dead instead of just sleeping. Levi does his best not to panic and works to make makeshift cold compresses, washing his hands obsessively. Despite it being almost inevitable at this point that Connie and Jean get sick, Levi can't help but hold out hope that they'll be spared. He's not sure that they can handle any more sick kids.

Of course, within hours of Levi thinking that, both Connie and Jean are feverish and miserable. He and Hanji move one of the beds into the (useless) quarantine room, since all of the cadets are useless to do anything besides lie there and occasionally shiver. Connie's fever spikes worryingly fast, while Jean curses Eren hoarsely for being a "plague rat." Levi can't really disagree with him.

He returns from making sure that the kids have enough water to find Hanji busy in the kitchen. "What in Walls are you doing, Shitty Glasses?" Hanji has been surprisingly well-behaved since the cadets started getting sick-aside from obsessively taking notes on everyone's symptoms, she had helped him take care of them and for the most part acted like a normal person.

But now it looks like she's back on her usual bullshit, whipping up one of her vile concoctions that she claims will help. "I'm making a cure, of course," she explains without looking up from her work. "I've studied the symptoms of this flu, and I think that with the science we can help those kids!"

"If by help, you mean make even worse, then you're probably right," Levi sighs. "Is there any chance of you not administering whatever you've whipped up to them?" Hanji shakes her head.

Of course not.

Despite Levi's protests, Hanji goes forward with her plan to test out her "cure." Since Eren has been sick the longest, she decides that he could use it the most. The last thing that they need is their only titan shifter dying from the flu.

Even with Mikasa's help, Eren is difficult to rouse, and even once he wakes up, he doesn't seem to be quite coherent. Still, Hanji somehow manages to manhandle him into taking the medicine that she created. "Just let my science do its work, Eren. You'll feel better in no time!"

There's a beat of silence, before Eren rolls onto his side and vomits all over the floor. Hanji is subsequently banned from the kitchen and put on watch duty.

Despite-definitely not thanks to-Hanji's attempt to help, Eren's fever breaks the next morning. Once Levi is satisfied that he's no longer contagious, he's finally released from quarantine and back to the basement to rest.

Mikasa is the next one to recover, followed by Sasha; both girls are allowed to return to the room that they share. As the cadets slowly recover, Levi feels the weight of the panic he felt previously lessen.

Both Armin and Historia take longer to recover due to their high fever, but they finally seem to have regained lucidity two days after Mikasa and Sasha are deemed well enough to leave. Both cadets are still a little shaky but otherwise okay. All of them have lost weight. Mikasa fusses over Eren and Armin, encouraging them to eat more to regain their strength. She barely touches her own food until Levi shoots her a sharp look.

Everyone celebrates when Jean and Connie recover, after days of Jean being nauseous and miserable and Connie being so delirious that he could barely remember his own name, constantly calling for his mother. Levi gathers them around, assigning the chores that need to be completed before dinner. All is going well, until the tickle in the back of his throat that he's been trying to ignore gets the best of him, and he's forced to pause for a coughing fit.

When he finally recovers, clearing his throat and wiping his watering eyes, all seven cadets are looking at him sheepishly. "Sorry, Captain Levi," comes the chorus of apologies. Levi growls angrily, and then immediately regrets it when the sound sets him off coughing again.

It's official: he's never having kids. Ever.

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!


End file.
